i7 Workstation build for $700

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PaleRider101

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Office Workstation / General office applications / some web browsing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700 before shipping

3) Where do you live?
Oklahoma

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
i7
6Gig RAM
NVidia Vedio Card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19" LCD

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soon

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Mirroring

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I would like Vista 64bit for sure...But the users will be employees with limited computer knowledge

I will be building about 12 of these, but I'm not sure if an i7 build is even possible with a $700 budget

Your help would be greatly appriciated
 
ur right... i can seem to get a complete i7 build lower that $1000, no matter how crappy the parts i pick out are

so... should i consider steppin down to a Quad Core or AMD
 
I don't think you can get a complete Core i7 build for $700. Mine cost $800 and that's because I already had the case, Windows license and I am re-using my old video card until I find the one that's right for me.

A Quad build is definitely doable but probably overkill for just office and web browsing. You could consider getting a dual core if you really want to shave some dollars off. I guess it really depends on how long you want these computers to last and what you plan to run on them in the future.
 
Office setting? Users with limited computer knowledge? Call up Dell or HP and work out a deal for a series of prebuilt systems. In this case, the advantages of having someone else set up and maintain these systems far outweigh the benefits of doing everything yourself.

With the cheapest Core i7 processor at around $300, the cheapest X58 board at $200, and even paying less than $100 for DDR3 RAM, you're still spending the bulk of that $700 budget on those three components -- and that's not including the cost of each OS license. It's simply not feasible.
 
Users with limited computer knowledge w/ i7 systems. Do they even know what i7 is? And since you seem to be in charge, what is the purpose of anything above a low budget build for an office settings, esp for these so-called computer illiterate colleagues? (Firefox has built in spell check btw)
 
-There is no MC in OK.
-He wants an NV card - 9400GT for office space sounds bout right.

Should see what his answers to all the above questions are first before throwing out parts lists.
 
LOGISYS Computer CS206BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 480W PS $33.99
Western Digital Caviar SE 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $33.99
Hanns·G 17" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor $99.99
Galaxy GeForce 8400 GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Video Card - Retail $29.99
LG SATA DVD-ROM Drive - OEM $15.99
Logitech Black PS/2 Keyboard with mouse - OEM $12.99
Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR3 PC3 8500 Memory - Retail $25.98 for two sticks
Open Box: MSI X58 Pro Motherboard $131.25
Intel Core i7 920 - Retail $288.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM $89.99

$763.15 before tax and shipping. Bring your own OS, and you are under $700 before shipping. I took the liberty of choosing 2gb of ram for you, heh. And to restate, the motherboard is an open box part.
 
artimusbill said:
LOGISYS Computer CS206BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 480W PS $33.99
Western Digital Caviar SE 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $33.99
Hanns·G 17" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor $99.99
Galaxy GeForce 8400 GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Video Card - Retail $29.99
LG SATA DVD-ROM Drive - OEM $15.99
Logitech Black PS/2 Keyboard with mouse - OEM $12.99
Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR3 PC3 8500 Memory - Retail $25.98 for two sticks
Open Box: MSI X58 Pro Motherboard $131.25
Intel Core i7 920 - Retail $288.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM $89.99

$763.15 before tax and shipping. Bring your own OS, and you are under $700 before shipping. I took the liberty of choosing 2gb of ram for you, heh. And to restate, the motherboard is an open box part.
Click to expand...
And as a warning: That PSU is not long or even short term solution. I would not trust that $5 PSU with $700 worth of parts on the line. So a good Core i7 build not likely to die in a few weeks is not feasible for $700.
 
OK, stupid question time:

PaleRider101, which programs do you plan to use with these systems? Or, why do you want to build 12 Core i7 workstations?
 
artimusbill said:
...
Open Box: MSI X58 Pro Motherboard $131.25
...
Click to expand...

artimusbill, nice! Too bad the OP needs 12. :( You can't even get 2 at this price

nsf_x58ob.PNG


I agree, go with Dell or HP. Give them a call so they can get you a deal. For general office apps (word, excel, acrobat, etc), you don't need an i7 system. A Core2 system would be much cheaper and last just as long, provided that the requirements don't change. Unless you specify some atypical office apps in response to tiraides' question, then a simple Vostro 220 system for ~$500 each should suffice (including 20" LCD, OS, and a dual core E7400 w/ 2GB or 4GB of RAM (XP or Vista)).

tiraides said:
OK, stupid question time:

PaleRider101, which programs do you plan to use with these systems? Or, why do you want to build 12 Core i7 workstations?
Click to expand...

Check gotapex.com for dell deals, or dell.com/outlet for even more deals.

gotapex.com said:
$439 after $336 instant discount: Dell Optiplex 360 with 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E7300, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 80GB HD, 16x DVD-ROM, Vista Home Basic, a 3 year warranty, plus a 20" widescreen Dell E2009W LCD Monitor.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for all of your input... sorry it has taken so long for me to reply....

basically I'm a network engineer who tinkers with A+ stuff... my dad owns a medium size corporation and is asking his resident computer expert... i.e. Me.... to upgrade all of his workstations... I thought about i7's because I don't want him to have to upgrade again for a while.. but I am open to consider QuadCore as well
 
PaleRider101 said:
basically I'm a network engineer who tinkers with A+ stuff... my dad owns a medium size corporation and is asking his resident computer expert... i.e. Me.... to upgrade all of his workstations... I thought about i7's because I don't want him to have to upgrade again for a while.. but I am open to consider QuadCore as well
Click to expand...

Yeah a Core i7 is not needed for the kind of usage scenario you listed, even 3-4 years from now. It'll be more cost effective to buy relatively cheap systems like the Dell that enginurd listed/linked to and buy new relatively cheap prebuilt systems in a few/several years when the systems can no longer meet the needs of the company.
 
How old are his current systems? How often does he upgrade? Here at my work, we upgrade our desktops every 4-5yrs, but our workstations get updated more frequently, as our needs change, 1-3yrs. Instead of spending $800 every 5yrs, consider spending $400 for every 2.5yrs. You'll end up with better performance over time, since computers just seem to get cheaper and cheaper. :p
 
A little step up from enginurd's suggestion...
http://www.slickdeals.net/permadeal...-Samsung-1080p-LCD--1TB-USB2-External-HDD-557

Dell SB has Vostro 220 Mini Tower Desktop w/ 23" 1080p LCD monitor and 1TB External USB2.0 Western Digital MyBook hard drive for $557 with free shipping. Thanks fattails and powerfuldoppler

Note, the 1TB external Hard Drive is optional, however, it is a very good deal at $49 with any system purchase and free shipping. To get free shipping on the system, your total system price, excluding the hard drive must be $500 or more (as spec'ed below)

Specs
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.8GHz, 3M, L2Cache, 1066FSB)
  • 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs
  • Samsung 2333SW 23” Widescreen Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor
  • Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x (DVD+/-RW) Burner
  • 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
  • Integrated Video, Intel GMA X4500HD
  • Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
  • Western Digital 1 TB USB 2.0 My Book Essential External Hard Drive
  • Dell USB Keyboard
  • Dell Optical USB Mouse
  • Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic, Service Pack 1
  • 1 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 1 Year NBD On-Site Service
Click to expand...

If this is just an "office PC" as opposed to a real "workstation", this should be fine. $508 shipped for a 2.8GHz C2D/2GB/250GB system with a 23" monitor is pretty good. You might be able to tweak some of the options to get more of what you need (video card, C2Q, etc.) while still keeping the price reasonable.
 
I called HP and they quoted me an i7 build with:
4Gig Ram DDR3
500Gig HD
GForce 9600
20" LCD
Vista Ultimate 64bit

for $1017.00

and a DualCore for:
4Gig Ram DDR2
500Gig HD
GForce 9600
20" LCD
Vista Ultimate 64bit

for $706.00
 
Disclaimer... Im an EDS employee which is owned by HP.. so i get an employee discount (which isn't much)
 
You still haven't answered what's being run on them, only background detail of who you are.
 
PaleRider101 said:
Thanks for all of your input... sorry it has taken so long for me to reply....

basically I'm a network engineer who tinkers with A+ stuff... my dad owns a medium size corporation and is asking his resident computer expert... i.e. Me.... to upgrade all of his workstations... I thought about i7's because I don't want him to have to upgrade again for a while.. but I am open to consider QuadCore as well
Click to expand...

Let me put it this way: Are the people who will be using these systems going to perform the same tasks that you do everyday?

If they aren't, they won't need a quad-core system, let alone a Core i7-based machine.
 
PaleRider101 said:
I called HP and they quoted me an i7 build with:
4Gig Ram DDR3
500Gig HD
GForce 9600
20" LCD
Vista Ultimate 64bit

for $1017.00

and a DualCore for:
4Gig Ram DDR2
500Gig HD
GForce 9600
20" LCD
Vista Ultimate 64bit

for $706.00
Click to expand...

Both of those systems are overpriced, IMO, especially the dual core system.

Build for current needs, not future guesses.
 
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